MUMBAI: Passengers aboard Virgin Atlantic flight from London Heathrow to Mumbai have been stranded at Diyarbakır Airport in Turkey for more than 20 hours following an emergency medical diversion. The diversion, made on April 2, happened after a passenger experienced a panic attack, leading to an unscheduled landing and subsequent technical inspections of the aircraft.
In a short video clip posted by passengers on social media, a four-month pregnant woman, a senior citizen with diabetics have complained that they have not had proper food for over 16 hours. “They gave some rice, wheat and some water, everybody is suffering, please help us,” said the pregnant woman. Passengers with medical conditions such as diabetics, blood pressure, kidney problems came forward to say they have been starving for hours. “There are four babies on board, they have not been fed their food as it is in the aircraft. No crew member or airline staff has come to update us,” said one of the passengers.
The Virgin Altantic A350 aircraft departed London Heathrow at 12 noon (local time) and about three hours later when overflying Turkey it landed in Diyarbakir airport.
A middle-aged woman returning to Mumbai after visiting her daughter in London, spoke to TOI and said that they have been at the airport for close to a day now. “We landed here at 8.30 pm (IST) and since then there has been no information about our flight status, the airline provided a beverage about 14 hours after we landed here,” she alleged. She said the conditions were challenging at the airport with only one toilet for the entire plane load of passengers, one charging point for mobile phones and only a paid wifi facility which means passengers who cannot make online digital payments have not been in touch with their relatives for about a day now.
A Virgin Atlantic spokesperson said: “The VS358 flight from London Heathrow to Mumbai was cancelled due to an urgent medical diversion to Diyarbakır Airport in Turkey and subsequent technical inspections required.” The airline added: “The safety and security of our customers and crew is always our top priority and we apologise for the inconvenience caused. We are urgently looking at all available options to ensure our customers can continue their journeys to Mumbai as quickly as possible, while our engineers carry out the necessary technical inspections of the aircraft. As soon as we have updated information, we will communicate to all customers involved.”